Ketterling kicks St. Charles East by Batavia

As they have always done, St. Charles East's girls soccer team spent Spring Break practicing. Since the early 90s under Tim Dailey and then Joe Moreau, the Saints have used this time to hone their skills in a second early-season series of tough workouts.

This year, coach Paul Jennison's team emerged on a glittering Saturday afternoon at Norris Stadium and they proved some of the things they concentrated on had sunk in. The Saints edged area rival Batavia 1-0 in a contest in which the hosts showed how well they'd adjusted to the passing style expected of them.

"I felt we were attacking well and getting the ball down the sides," St. Charles East's Liz Drennan said. "I felt we were doing well, especially after all the practices. I felt like it was a good result."

Drennan provided the cross from which Morgan Ketterling scored the only goal. The play came just 7 minutes into the game and was one of many times the Saints (2-1) worked the ball from the center of the field to a wing player and back to the middle again. The tactic stretched Batavia's defense constantly.

"We had a lot of crosses that were put across, so that's good," Drennan said. "We have good speed on our wings, so that's good to get the ball out there. I thought we did that well."

Drennan admitted she wasn't necessarily trying to pick out Ketterling for the goal.

"Honestly, I put it across and was hoping someone would be there," Drennan said. "(Ketterling) was there and that's good."

At the other end, the Saints were very composed defensively. Everyone uses different definitions as to what constitutes a "shot" in soccer. But through 80 minutes, Batavia did not register a solid effort on the Saints goal. Some of that could be chalked up to St. Charles East's defense.

"We all trust each other a lot," St. Charles East's Shaylee Pedersen said. "It's nice to know that every single person on the field can handle themselves. There's not one weak link in our team."

Batavia (2-2-1) has had its share of troubles scoring goals, though its defense has been strong. The Bulldogs had to weather some extended Saints pressure. There were four other top scoring chances for St. Charles East.

Just past the midpoint of the first half, Hannah Ketterling came in and hit a shot that was saved by Batavia goalie Elana Mudrak. Six minutes into the second half, Mudrak blocked a Kerry Savage shot. After a quarter-hour of the second half was played, Bri Choffin blocked a shot by the Saints Toni Baltes. Finally, Drennan hit a sharp shot from outside the penalty area that went narrowly over the crossbar.

"We're coming together defensively," Batavia coach Jim McAlpin said. "We're playing our positions pretty well. We're just struggling when we get into the attacking third."

As for the offense, McAlpin said there is still time to find the goals he knows his team is capable of scoring.

"We're making progress," McAlpin said. "We have to get the ball in the net and you know that can become a psychological thing. You can't score if you don't shoot and we're passing up opportunities to shoot."